I can see winding up the search after 6 days of no signs.
The heat is a threat to the searchers and the aircraft so that's a decision point for the sake of the rescuers.

But that's different from writing off the lost folks for only being out 6 days - even if it's hot. Assuming they were too dumb to get in the shade and find water is heading for the lowest possible denominator. (Maybe that's all that journalists know?)

Cellphones - I hear it frequently on the scanner that a person in trouble calls a friend rather than 911. Mental muscle memory or something. Or maybe it's too hard to find the dialing number pad on modern phones? (I dunno, my cellphone is 12 years old and it has number buttons)